Post by Shinobi-Iri (nick) on Mar 29, 2008 11:50:05 GMT -5
Introduction
I’m not rich off writing, I don’t even have a book published. I’m not a well known writer, and not even some of my friends know that I’m a writer. The point is that I am a writer, and as a writer I possess some of the fundamental skills required to create, write and pace a story and (hopefully) do it well. By reading this, please be aware that you have shown some faith in me and I thank you for that, for now let’s get into it.
Creating your Story
The very first thing you must do is create the story. Before you even think about characters, before you even think about dialogue, you need to create a plot for the characters to follow. Think about this; A writer starts to write his story. He creates an award winning character that displays all these features that a character should have, plus almost anybody could relate to them. Then, the writer begins to write the story and discovers he or she had nowhere for this character to go, nothing for this character to do and that’s the key element to a story. Before you begin to talk about characters, you need to create the plot.
Ideas for stories can come at anytime, in anyplace, and at times, any form. That’s why it’s important to carry a notebook with you. If you are on a Train, or eating at a restaurant, or doing regular everyday things, then you could be struck with an idea and not be able to record it for later molding. That’s why a Notebook and a sharp pencil or pen is essential for everyday life, because sometimes the most monotonous task can spawn the most brilliant ideas.
Every story requires three things; A beginning, middle and end. The Beginning is the beginning of the story, quite obviously. It’s the section we are introduced to the characters, the setting and the basic plot. The middle is the planning stage for the characters, or the development of characters and relationships between them, and the end is where everything should be wrapped up into a viable ending. I like to split these up differently however, so when planning your story, try doing this…
INTRODUCTION
This is the introduction to the characters and the storyline.
DISCOVERY
This is where the characters discover they have a problem, this can also be a replacement for Introduction, but it must include an introduction of some kind.
ANALYSATION
This is where the characters analyse their situation, and try to find the best solution to their problems.
CONCLUSION
This is how the characters solve their problem, and basically document the characters actions to solve it.
If you’re still confused about developing a story, try to fill out the sections and see what you can come up with. If you’re lucky, you’ll create something nice.
Characters and Setting
Once you’ve gone about creating a plot, you can start populating the storyline with characters and giving them a backdrop to work in. Are your characters going to be romantic lovers in Sunny Spain, or vicious Vampires populating a vast and dark Mansion? Wherever you set your story, try to make it concede with your storyline, because it’s a little weird for a underwater adventure to be in the middle of the Alps.
Characters are sometimes the easiest part of a story, other times they are not. But the one thing you must remember is that characters are one of the things that can make or break a story. Creating characters might seem a little daunting, but it’s not, check this out…
Age:
Nationality:
Place of Birth:
Date of Birth:
Appearance: Make this as detailed as possible, include details about hair, eye and skin color, and also preferred clothing choice.
Personality:
Biography:
Profession:
Role in Story:
Name:
Notice I put the name last, why? The answer is because it’s not important, the most important thing about a character is their traits, and although a good name can add a certain dynamic to a character, it’s not as important as the other things. Take, for example, the main character from the book Fight Club. The main character remained unnamed throughout the whole story, yet had a highly developed personality profile and perception of life, and this was what made him such a dynamic character. I’m going to give you a Character profile right on the spot, check this out.
Age: 26
Nationality: Australian
Place of Birth: Adelaide, South Australia
Date of Birth: 24th of March, 1980
Appearance: Quite tall, 187cms, light blonde hair and blue eyes. Quite a handsome face, with premature age lines around the mouth, most prominent when smiling. Has a tendency to sweep hair out of eyes excessively.
Personality: Deeply caring, very understanding of people’s problems, eager to help people out when he can and doesn’t care much for rules if they get in the way of completing a job.
Biography: Was a problem child in his youth, spent most of his teenage years in and out of Juvenile Detention Centers. Despite a mostly violent attitude, the IQ tests he was subjected to proved that he was a bright kid, just never showed it. The last straw came when he critically injured a man during a man robbery and was sent to prison, where he was rehabilitated and given a job as a police officer, has been in Law Enforcement ever since his discharge from prison.
Profession: Police Officer
Role in Story: Main Character
Name: Brett Davies
Obviously, this can be as more detailed as you like, but should be no less detailed. Also, you should create a profile for all but the most minor characters in the story. When creating your plot, the last thing you should do should be to determine the amount of characters there will be involved. There are three categories of Character:
Main Character(s): Have the most detail and have the most part in a story. They are the ones that take control and either solve the problem or work for the problem and prevent the protagonists from solving the problem.
Supporting Characters(s): This is a step down from main character, they usually appear to give information to the character either once or multiple times throughout the story. One notable example would be M in the James Bond series, who wasn’t exactly a main character but wasn’t really minor either.
Minor Characters(s): Characters that are briefly mentioned in the story and maybe talked to, but otherwise have little to do with the actual story. Another sub-category is “Ghost Character” which isn’t even named, and does not come into contact with the main character.
That’s pretty much all your need to start writing, but there is one more thing though; selecting a Genre. You might be saying “Who cares, it is what it is!” but no….maybe you want to aim your book at a particular audience? Or maybe people don’t like reading Fantasy and want some Horror. The fact is, if you don’t label your story, then you’re going to get bad responses because you’re exposing your book to people who might not necessarily like that particular genre. So if you’ve written a story full of lasers, robots, cyborgs and extra-terrestrials, you might want to label it Science-Fiction. Or if you’ve got lots of Guns, Fighting and Car chases, why not label it Action/Adventure. Here’s a partial list of some genres you might want to consider…
Action: A very popular genre, this genre contains fast paced plotlines and plenty of guns and drugs but many sacrifice a good dialogue opportunity for over-the-top action so try to avoid what I call the “Action Writer’s Curse”
Adventure: Similar to Action, but Adventure doesn’t have to contain fighting. It’s basically just the kind of book when your characters go out to find something and get slowed down by obstacles along the way. Very simple story concept, but this can easily balloon into something more.
Romance: A Love story, I personally can’t stand it, but Romance may tie into Action as some points. I actually don’t mind the “They’ve blocked him off from his love, and he’ll do anything, and I mean ANYTHING to get her back” scenarios because you can justify the main character killing off a bunch of people because he was looking for his love. However, they are usually soft, slow, and dictate the details of the relationship and it’s problems more than anything else.
Thriller: This is the kind of shit that keeps you on your toes and wanting to read more. Not necessarily fast paced, but different to Actions because they have long intricate plotlines and can get chronologically confusing sometimes.
Fantasy: There’s a whole host of sub-genres here, but the main theme of Fantasy is Magic, Monsters, Knights and Wizards. It’s a great literary landscape, and can make for some very interesting stories.
Choose your own Adventure: This can be really interesting, and can be any genre. This gives the reader the opportunity to decide what happens next, and is really good when it’s comical although serious can be good too.
There are of course many genres to choose from, and you can be even able to make up your own. But the most important thing to need to remember is that very little percentage of the population will be impressed if you say your story is something it isn’t. so good labeling is important.
I’m not rich off writing, I don’t even have a book published. I’m not a well known writer, and not even some of my friends know that I’m a writer. The point is that I am a writer, and as a writer I possess some of the fundamental skills required to create, write and pace a story and (hopefully) do it well. By reading this, please be aware that you have shown some faith in me and I thank you for that, for now let’s get into it.
Creating your Story
The very first thing you must do is create the story. Before you even think about characters, before you even think about dialogue, you need to create a plot for the characters to follow. Think about this; A writer starts to write his story. He creates an award winning character that displays all these features that a character should have, plus almost anybody could relate to them. Then, the writer begins to write the story and discovers he or she had nowhere for this character to go, nothing for this character to do and that’s the key element to a story. Before you begin to talk about characters, you need to create the plot.
Ideas for stories can come at anytime, in anyplace, and at times, any form. That’s why it’s important to carry a notebook with you. If you are on a Train, or eating at a restaurant, or doing regular everyday things, then you could be struck with an idea and not be able to record it for later molding. That’s why a Notebook and a sharp pencil or pen is essential for everyday life, because sometimes the most monotonous task can spawn the most brilliant ideas.
Every story requires three things; A beginning, middle and end. The Beginning is the beginning of the story, quite obviously. It’s the section we are introduced to the characters, the setting and the basic plot. The middle is the planning stage for the characters, or the development of characters and relationships between them, and the end is where everything should be wrapped up into a viable ending. I like to split these up differently however, so when planning your story, try doing this…
INTRODUCTION
This is the introduction to the characters and the storyline.
DISCOVERY
This is where the characters discover they have a problem, this can also be a replacement for Introduction, but it must include an introduction of some kind.
ANALYSATION
This is where the characters analyse their situation, and try to find the best solution to their problems.
CONCLUSION
This is how the characters solve their problem, and basically document the characters actions to solve it.
If you’re still confused about developing a story, try to fill out the sections and see what you can come up with. If you’re lucky, you’ll create something nice.
Characters and Setting
Once you’ve gone about creating a plot, you can start populating the storyline with characters and giving them a backdrop to work in. Are your characters going to be romantic lovers in Sunny Spain, or vicious Vampires populating a vast and dark Mansion? Wherever you set your story, try to make it concede with your storyline, because it’s a little weird for a underwater adventure to be in the middle of the Alps.
Characters are sometimes the easiest part of a story, other times they are not. But the one thing you must remember is that characters are one of the things that can make or break a story. Creating characters might seem a little daunting, but it’s not, check this out…
Age:
Nationality:
Place of Birth:
Date of Birth:
Appearance: Make this as detailed as possible, include details about hair, eye and skin color, and also preferred clothing choice.
Personality:
Biography:
Profession:
Role in Story:
Name:
Notice I put the name last, why? The answer is because it’s not important, the most important thing about a character is their traits, and although a good name can add a certain dynamic to a character, it’s not as important as the other things. Take, for example, the main character from the book Fight Club. The main character remained unnamed throughout the whole story, yet had a highly developed personality profile and perception of life, and this was what made him such a dynamic character. I’m going to give you a Character profile right on the spot, check this out.
Age: 26
Nationality: Australian
Place of Birth: Adelaide, South Australia
Date of Birth: 24th of March, 1980
Appearance: Quite tall, 187cms, light blonde hair and blue eyes. Quite a handsome face, with premature age lines around the mouth, most prominent when smiling. Has a tendency to sweep hair out of eyes excessively.
Personality: Deeply caring, very understanding of people’s problems, eager to help people out when he can and doesn’t care much for rules if they get in the way of completing a job.
Biography: Was a problem child in his youth, spent most of his teenage years in and out of Juvenile Detention Centers. Despite a mostly violent attitude, the IQ tests he was subjected to proved that he was a bright kid, just never showed it. The last straw came when he critically injured a man during a man robbery and was sent to prison, where he was rehabilitated and given a job as a police officer, has been in Law Enforcement ever since his discharge from prison.
Profession: Police Officer
Role in Story: Main Character
Name: Brett Davies
Obviously, this can be as more detailed as you like, but should be no less detailed. Also, you should create a profile for all but the most minor characters in the story. When creating your plot, the last thing you should do should be to determine the amount of characters there will be involved. There are three categories of Character:
Main Character(s): Have the most detail and have the most part in a story. They are the ones that take control and either solve the problem or work for the problem and prevent the protagonists from solving the problem.
Supporting Characters(s): This is a step down from main character, they usually appear to give information to the character either once or multiple times throughout the story. One notable example would be M in the James Bond series, who wasn’t exactly a main character but wasn’t really minor either.
Minor Characters(s): Characters that are briefly mentioned in the story and maybe talked to, but otherwise have little to do with the actual story. Another sub-category is “Ghost Character” which isn’t even named, and does not come into contact with the main character.
That’s pretty much all your need to start writing, but there is one more thing though; selecting a Genre. You might be saying “Who cares, it is what it is!” but no….maybe you want to aim your book at a particular audience? Or maybe people don’t like reading Fantasy and want some Horror. The fact is, if you don’t label your story, then you’re going to get bad responses because you’re exposing your book to people who might not necessarily like that particular genre. So if you’ve written a story full of lasers, robots, cyborgs and extra-terrestrials, you might want to label it Science-Fiction. Or if you’ve got lots of Guns, Fighting and Car chases, why not label it Action/Adventure. Here’s a partial list of some genres you might want to consider…
Action: A very popular genre, this genre contains fast paced plotlines and plenty of guns and drugs but many sacrifice a good dialogue opportunity for over-the-top action so try to avoid what I call the “Action Writer’s Curse”
Adventure: Similar to Action, but Adventure doesn’t have to contain fighting. It’s basically just the kind of book when your characters go out to find something and get slowed down by obstacles along the way. Very simple story concept, but this can easily balloon into something more.
Romance: A Love story, I personally can’t stand it, but Romance may tie into Action as some points. I actually don’t mind the “They’ve blocked him off from his love, and he’ll do anything, and I mean ANYTHING to get her back” scenarios because you can justify the main character killing off a bunch of people because he was looking for his love. However, they are usually soft, slow, and dictate the details of the relationship and it’s problems more than anything else.
Thriller: This is the kind of shit that keeps you on your toes and wanting to read more. Not necessarily fast paced, but different to Actions because they have long intricate plotlines and can get chronologically confusing sometimes.
Fantasy: There’s a whole host of sub-genres here, but the main theme of Fantasy is Magic, Monsters, Knights and Wizards. It’s a great literary landscape, and can make for some very interesting stories.
Choose your own Adventure: This can be really interesting, and can be any genre. This gives the reader the opportunity to decide what happens next, and is really good when it’s comical although serious can be good too.
There are of course many genres to choose from, and you can be even able to make up your own. But the most important thing to need to remember is that very little percentage of the population will be impressed if you say your story is something it isn’t. so good labeling is important.
